Father of Murdered Soldier Speaks out Against Self-rule

The father of an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists last year has joined the ranks of those protesting the Palestinian self-rule accord.

Yehuda Waxman, whose son, Nachshon, was abducted and subsequently killed by terrorists in October, this week joined the 3-week-old hunger strike of Rabbi Menahem Felix of Alon Moreh, whose daughter, Ofra, was killed by terrorists in January.

The strikes are gathered opposite the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. On orders from his doctor, Waxman is not fasting. After his son’s murder, Waxman and his wife, Esther, had appealed for calm and refused to speak out against the government. On Sunday, Waxman explained to reporters why he had joined the demonstration.

“There were more than 130 innocent people killed on the streets by terrorists” since the signing of the self-rule accord in Washington in September 1993, he said.

Noting that he had supported the Israeli government when it signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan last October, Waxman said, “No Jews are in danger because we made these agreements.”

In contrast, he said, Israeli lives have been endangered by the Palestinian self-rule accord, which he called “too open-ended.”